A couple of weeks ago, a large group of African-American parents in Austin turned out to hear a pitch by an organization known as the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO). The group says its mission is to educate Black parents about the array of educational choices available to their children beyond the traditional public schools.

This movement is growing quickly. Black parents are frustrated by public school systems. However, there is only so much choice that can be available and even though BAEO chooses to ignore this issue, the most choice will always be available to those with the most money.
One of the more repeated themes sounded at the meeting was the frustration parents feel in trying to deal with the bureaucracy at the Austin school district. In listening to the parents, it became obvious that Black parents need school advocates. Community organizations that are involved in the public schools at different levels, such as the PTA, the NAACP and LULAC, should provide services to help parents negotiate within the school districts. But this is no easy task.

A large number of African-American students in Texas schools are in large urban areas: Dallas, Houston, and Austin, for example. The bigger the district, the larger the bureaucracy.
Thus, it takes more time and energy to take care of simple tasks and get answers to easy questions. The reality is that many parents lack the time and energy to do this, which is often comparable to a second job. That is why advocates who know how to work the system would be valuable. I learned quickly that I could not merely turn my children over to the school district and expect them to be properly and totally educated.

Because we have four sons, that required my husband and I to spend a lot of time at schools, to make sure teachers were doing what they were supposed to, to make sure our children got in the classes they needed, to make sure counselors provided sufficient information on how to get into colleges. And so on and so on. It was not easy. There is still too much of a tendency on the part of public schools to not want parental involvement that extends beyond baking cookies for a school function or acting as a chaperone on a field trip.

Not all schools welcome parents as full education partners. But that is too bad. Public schools are our schools and they are the only schools where we can demand that our concerns be addressed.    As a parent, I had to rely on my chess playing skills to know how to get things done. When I was dissatisfied with my neighborhood school, I had to learn the circumstances under which I could transfer my children to the school of my choice. If I was dissatisfied with a teacher, I had to learn how to express those feelings without risking retaliation against my child. If I was unhappy with an administrator, I had to learn that it was often a school board member who should get that information, not a central office bureaucrat. If I wanted services above and beyond what the school said it would offer, I would have to learn how to get those.

But again, it was not easy. And it wasn’t fun. But it was necessary. But for those who don’t have the time and energy to become a full-time educational watchdog, that is where the community-based organizations could provide a valuable service. They could teach parents the best way to get things done as well as negotiate in their behalf.  Not only would this help make better parents, it would force schools to do a better job of dealing with the concerns of parents in an effective way. After all, public schools are our schools and we have a right to make sure they work for us.